The French Porcelain Society
President: Dame Rosalind Savill
Chairman: Errol Manners
Autumn 2013
Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue
Chairman’s Report
The death of Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue, our erstwhile
president, was the sad news of the year but it gave us an
opportunity to celebrate his huge contribution to ceramic
scholarship and the life of our Society. Many of us were
able to attend the inspiring memorial service at St George’s
Chapel, Windsor. The Burlington Magazine has kindly allowed
us to reproduce in this newsletter the obituary written by
Dame Rosalind Savill.
It was a delight to see so many gathered for our June study
day at Art Antiques London, where it was standing room
only for a day of lectures. We decamped to the Polish Club
for the AGM, where Sue Newell had organised a most
enjoyable evening for us, starting with the first of our newly
instated ‘Geoffrey de Bellaigue Annual Lecture’ series. Sadly
due to illness (now thankfully recovered) our speakers,
Meredith Chilton and MaryLou Boone, could not deliver
their intended talk but Dame Rosalind stepped in to save
the day in spectacular fashion. The following day saw a trip
to Houghton Hall to see the paintings loaned back from the
Hermitage and a privileged viewing of the Sèvres porcelain,
which is not normally on view to the public.
The committee has not been idle. Nette Megens with the
help of Suzanne Lambooy organised a trip to some of the
great provincial museums, houses and collections of Holland
finishing with a visit to recently reopened Rijksmuseum
where we were guided around the splendidly reinstalled
galleries by Reinier Baarsen. Patricia Ferguson took us on
memorable trips to the National Museums & Galleries of
Wales in Cardiff where Oliver Fairclough and his team shared
the riches of their collection with us and to the Victoria &
Albert Museum where Adrian Sassoon talked us through his
selection of remarkable pieces.
We would like to thank Sotheby’s, Richard Cohen and others
who made donations. These are hugely valuable as they allow
us to launch events and trips even when we are not quite
sure if we can cover the costs. This year we were able to
help with travel bursaries for five people to come on the
trip to Holland and we have given a study grant of £1000
to Selma Schwartz to continue her important work on the
Bertin documents in France.
Errol Manners
August 2013
Committee Members of the French Porcelain Society 2013
President:
Chairman:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Journal Editor:
Membership Secretary:
Events Organiser:
Events Organiser:
Newsletter Editor:
North American Representative:
French Representative:
Australian Representative:
Journal Co-Editor:
Website Coordinator:
Ordinary Member:
Ordinary Member:
Founder:
Dame Rosalind Savill DBE, FSA, FBA, London
Errol Manners FSA, London
Patricia Ferguson, London
Georgina McPherson, London
Oliver Fairclough FSA, Cardiff
Anne Leeper, U.K.
Nette Megens, London
Susan Newell, London
Catrin Jones, London
Letitia Roberts, New York
Manuela Finaz de Villaine, Paris
Peter Burton, Australia
John Whitehead, France
Mia Jackson, U.K.
Joanna Gwilt, London
Michele Beiny-Harkins, New York
Lady Davson, U.K.
News
Metropolitan Museum of Art acquires Vincennes group
The Vincennes factory produced a relatively small number
of porcelain sculptures in the very early 1750s that were
remarkably ambitious works for a young ceramic enterprise.
Among the most accomplished of the porcelain groups were
two that, when paired, represented the Four Continents.
This group of the personifications of Asia and Africa joins
the pendant group of Europe and America that was already
in the Metropolitan’s collection, allowing the two porcelain
sculptures to be united, one of two such pairings known.
Left: Figure group representing Asia and Africa, French (Vincennes),
c.1752; soft-paste porcelain. Purchased for the Metropolitan Museum of
Art by the Friends of European Scupture and Decorative Arts Gifts and
Marilyn and Lawrence Friedland Gift, 2012
Dame Rosalind on YouTube
Watch a series of three short videos recently made by the
Gardiner Museum, Toronto, “Dame Rosalind Savill and her
favourite Sèvres porcelain at Toronto’s Gardiner Museum”.
Let’s make it a YouTube hit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOgYVt_Og4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn6VQeEcxfg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InvlNZ7Kr3g
New baby for Sebastian Kuhn and Nette Megens
Felix Kuhn was born on 3 September, weighing over ten pounds! A future ceramic-lover no doubt.
Updated ‘Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th Century’, by David Peters
David Peters is busy working on an updated edition of his
seven volume work, ‘Sèvres Plates and Services of the 18th
Century’ which should be ready by the end of this year. This
will include numerous further discoveries and corrections
made since the publication of the original edition in 2005.
The format of the new edition is still undecided, it may well
be partially in electronic form. We will keep you informed
of developments.
Forthcoming Events
Parcours de la Céramique, Paris
24-28th September, 2013
The Parcours de la Céramique takes place in shops throughout Paris at the end of September in the Carré Rive Gauche and
the Louvre des Antiquaires. There will be talks in various galleries by Madame Antoinette Hallé, Conservateur général
honoraire du Patrimoine et Ancien directeur du musée national de Céramique, and Françoise Boisgibault, ceramics writer
for L’Estampille l’Objet d’Art.
The following FPS members will be exhibiting: Justin Raccanello (Bazaart), Bernard Dragesco and Didier Cramoisan, Giampaolo
Lukacs, Christoph Perles, Camille Leprince (Vandermeersch), John Whitehead and Errol Manners.
On Saturday, September 28th at 12:00, Dame Rosalind Savill will give an informal talk followed by a champagne reception
at Artesepia-M. Le Fell, 25 rue de Beaune, 75007, hosted by John Whitehead and Errol Manners.
For locations and details see http://www.francantiq.fr/siccaf/UK.asp
Handling Session at the Victoria & Albert Museum, with John Whitehead
Thursday 17 October, 11:00-1:00, Ceramics Study Gallery, room 139, level 6
John Whitehead, scholar, dealer and FPS committee member, will select examples of French porcelain from the V&A’s
collection focusing on the period 1785 to 1900, looking at techniques, pastes, marks and decoration.
Rebecca Wallis, Curator, responsible for the V&A’s collection of European 19th-century ceramics, will be on hand.
Places are limited to 12 people, and the cost is £10.
Please contact Patricia Ferguson at [email protected] or 07708099114 to book.
The Kiddell Collection of Fakes and Forgeries, with Errol Manners
Monday 11 November, 10:30-12:30
Jos Hackforth-Jones, Director of the Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and Elisabeth Bogdan, Course Leader, Decorative Art and
Design Semester Programmes, have invited FPS members to view The Kiddell Collection of Fakes and Forgeries. The
collection was formed by A. J. B. (Jim) Kiddell (1894-1980), the renowned Sotheby’s ceramics expert. From the 1950s, while
working at the auction house, he began to collect ‘fakes’ for training cataloguers. It is still used today as part of SIA’s objectbased art education. The collection, recently catalogued by FPS member Bet McLeod, includes problematic French and
Continental ceramics, Samson ‘reproductions’, blatant fakes and pieces now considered genuine artifacts. Errol Manners,
FPS Chairman, will be on hand to guide us through this challenging subject.
The visit is free, courtesy of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, but limited to 15 places. 30 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3EE
Please contact Patricia Ferguson at [email protected] or 07708099114 to book.
‘Deception: Ceramics and Imitation’, Victoria & Albert Museum, with Catrin Jones
Friday 22 November, 18:00-20:00
Catrin Jones, Assistant Curator and FPS Committee member, will lead a tour of her exhibition at the V&A, Deception: Ceramics
and Imitation, which closes January 5, 2014. The display showcases a thousand years of clay masquerading as vegetables, birds,
metalware, lacquer and textiles created to delight and surprise. Following our tour and discussions, we will join the curator
for dinner at a local restaurant, to be confirmed.
The event is free and open to all, but members wishing to join the tour or dinner must notify Patricia Ferguson in advance
to arrange visitor passes. Please contact [email protected] or 07708099114.
Sir Geoffrey de bellaigue (1931-2013)
This obituary was first published in The Burlington Magazine, CLV, June 2013, pp. 413-14. With additional photographs selected by the FPS.
In 1960 Bellaigue joined the staff of the National Trust at
Waddesdon Manor, becoming Keeper of Collections in 1962–
63. Here he encountered the Danish scholar Svend Eriksen,
who was to publish the Sèvres porcelain at Waddesdon in
1968, and Francis Watson, who had published the furniture
in the Wallace Collection in 1956, later becoming its Director
in 1963. Both were major influences on post-War decorative
arts’ scholarship, and supported Bellaigue’s own first
masterpiece, the two-volume catalogue of the Rothschild
furniture at Waddesdon, a remarkable tour de force, beautifully
produced in 1974. In 1963 he joined the Royal Household as
Deputy to Watson, the Surveyor of the Queen’s Works of
Oliver Fairclough presents with a bound copy of the FPS journal containing
the papers from the Symposium held in his honour
GEOFFREY DE BELLAIGUE, Director of the Royal
Collection and, following his retirement, Surveyor Emeritus
of the Queen’s Works of Art, who died aged eighty-one on
4th January 2013, will live on through his encyclopaedic,
scholarly and inspirational legacy in the decorative arts of
eighteenth-century France.
As a young Guards Officer, according to his early Commonplace Book (recently discovered by his wife), Bellaigue dreamed
of studying Vasari and Renaissance Italy. However, he read
Law at Cambridge and, from 1954 to 1959, was a banker with
With Lady de Bellaigue and Phillipa Glanville at Art Antiques London, 2010
Art, whom he succeeded in 1972, and in 1988 he followed
Oliver Millar as the Director of the Royal Collection, a post
he held until his official retirement in 1996. It was during his
tenure that the disastrous fire broke out at Windsor Castle,
which he and his successor, Hugh Roberts, turned phoenixlike from a catastrophe into a triumph of reconstruction,
refurbishment and redisplay. Another achievement was
the resulting creation of the Royal Collection Trust, which
continues to go from strength to strength. On leaving
his Royal Collection day job, he returned to his night job
of many years: the completion of the catalogue of Sèvres
porcelain in the Royal Collection, which he had begun with
With Marie-Laure de Rochebrune at Boughton in 2002
J. Henry Schröder & Co., where his yearning for art led to his
resignation and his single-minded enrolment at the Ecole du
Louvre in Paris. Here his tutor was the great scholar Pierre
Verlet and in his obituary for his mentor (The Burlington
Magazine, May 1988) he wrote: ‘It is said that a Verlet pupil,
when lecturing, will always reveal his origins by harking back
to the great tradition of Louis XIV and Versailles, and by
stressing the dissemination of the French court style abroad’.
How proud Verlet must have been watching his protégé living
this great tradition with such vigour and success, as eighteenthcentury France (and its wider ramifications), not Renaissance
Italy, finally became his passion.
With Ros on the coach during the FPS Trip to Dresden with Keramos in 2010
On the poster for the Collect art fair, 2006
Examining a table at Boughton, 2012
the publication of the Louis XVI service in 1986, and ended
with a noble, mammoth and magnificent three-volume work,
published twenty-three years later in 2009.
at the factory. He will also be remembered for his unique
detective work on two dealers-cum-fakers in England and
France in the early nineteenth century, respectively, Edward
Holmes Baldock and Philippe-Claude Maëlrondt, whom he
proved to be separately responsible for causing much of
the confusion as to what is an original eighteenth-century
piece of porcelain or furniture and what has been altered or
‘enhanced’ following the French Revolution.
Bellaigue had a distinguished and prolific publishing
record, and a long and much-respected association with The
Burlington Magazine, both as a member of its Consultative
Committee (1985–2013), and especially as a contributor.
Between 1963 and 2009 he published more than sixty-six
books, exhibition catalogues, articles, reviews and obituaries;
nine of his articles were for the Burlington, where he also
published nine book reviews, and two obituaries (for Pierre
Verlet and Francis Watson). His first published research was
on furniture while working on the Waddesdon catalogue; in
the 1960s and 1970s he embraced the arts of France and
George IV’s collections at Buckingham Palace and Carlton
House, and from 1979 Sèvres porcelain began to dominate
his writings, based on his most exquisitely detailed research
in the Archives at Sèvres.
For Bellaigue, an individual Sèvres object was a conduit to
wider connections within the decorative arts, their design and
manufacture, function and display, and patronage and collecting.
This in turn he viewed within the historical, political,
economic and social context of the time, so that a mere
piece of porcelain becomes a hero of great significance. His
interests also extended to seeking out painted and engraved
sources for design and decoration, not just for furniture and
porcelain, but also for arms and armour, which culminated
in the remarkable identification of hundreds of scenes from
classical history and mythology on the spectacular Louis
XVI Sèvres service at Windsor Castle, and enabled him to
attribute the unmarked scenes on the porcelain to painters
As Director of the Royal Collection, Bellaigue occasionally
advised the Queen on new acquisitions, notably three
of Sèvres porcelain with close connections to the royal
family. The first is a tinglingly rare Vincennes covered bowl
and stand of c.1748, bearing the arms of a Prince of the
House of Stuart in exile, presumably the Young Pretender
who spent many years in France; the bowl and cover were
acquired in London in 1964, and fortuitously the matching
stand appeared in Paris in 1997.
Then, following his article in The Burlington Magazine in June
1984, part of the extraordinary ‘Huzza, the King is Well’
dinner service was acquired in 2003. Commissioned by the
Spanish Ambassador, the marqués del Campo, for Queen
Charlotte’s use at Ranelagh on 9th June 1789, it celebrated
George III’s recovery from illness. Thirdly, in 2004 a
three-vase garniture, bought by Queen Marie Antoinette
in 1779, was reassembled by acquiring the missing centre
vase (identified by Susan Newell) to join the flanking vases
purchased by George IV in 1817. Bellaigue revelled in this
living quality of the Royal Collection, its objects and its
history, which for him was an infinite and joyful resource for
exploration and discovery.
Bellaigue’s own research methods were singular and wonderfully productive. He once quoted Oswald Barron’s 1914
tribute to Guy Francis Laking, who had published the Sèvres
in the Royal Collection in 1907: ‘His knowledge was in
his wits and memory and fingers rather than in paper and
notebook’, but Bellaigue’s success was that he combined
all these qualities, and his paper records were meticulous.
His research, much of it undertaken in Paris, was recorded
in longhand on irreplaceable small index cards, which he
carried around with him and could draw on instantly to
double-check an idea or a reference. But this once led to
disaster on a flight back to London when his suitcase filled
with all the card indexes and some pungent French cheeses
failed to arrive; it was missing for many months until one day,
out of the blue, it reappeared with, miraculously, the research
still intact and, luckily, the cheeses removed.
did not expect them to like it), he then dazzled them with
his knowledge, endearingly embellished with references to
the ambassador del Campo being a ‘giddy, merry mortal’
and dubbing the faking and redecoration of Sèvres in the
nineteenth century as ‘bogosity’!
This mischievous sense of humour, combined with immense
charm and a deep humanity, belied his formal and quiet
exterior as a respected courtier (proved, as John Ingamells
used to say, by his never getting doughnut jam down his
tie). It is also a leitmotif in his writings (‘As to the painting
of the bird scenes, they suffer from a number of faults,
namely thinness of colour, perfunctory rendering of foliage,
indifferent painting of birds – one bird [. . .] has only one
leg [. . .] (pace Jutsham supra)’) and in letters on museum
files (including one thought to be in an American museum
Rosalind Savill thanking Geoffrey de Bellaigue in her speech given at Adrian Sassoon’s launch party for The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, April 1989
Bellaigue warmly and widely shared his zest for scholarship,
not as a top-down imparting of knowledge, but as a
partnership whereby he proffered information and expected
a parrying reply; for him a passive listener was dreary; he
wanted encounters to be fun. His encouragement of young
scholars has already created two generations who see him
as mentor and friend and who, when writing their own
catalogues, ask themselves whether Bellaigue would have
said a confident ‘probably’ or a more cautious ‘possibly’ for a
provenance, always aspiring to his high, scholarly standards.
He was a much-loved teacher, not least for combining his
erudition with empathy and irreverent turns-of-phrase:
for example at a Royal Collection Studies Sèvres session
in 2008 he reminded his audience ‘that Sèvres porcelain is
not everyone’s cup of tea’ (subtly acknowledging that he
concerning the Sèvres ground colour ‘merde d’oie’, proving it
green rather than brown, based on evidence in Green Park,
London).
Such surprising informality from such a superlative
expert also made him a valued colleague and a member
of various committees. He was a Trustee of the Wallace
Collection (1998–2006), where his advice was especially
sought concerning furniture conservation, and also of the
National Art Collections Fund. He was on the Academic
Committee of Waddesdon Manor where, only three weeks
before he died, in December 2012, he attended a gilt bronzes
conference and was as intellectually rigorous as ever. He was
President of the French Porcelain Society, which honoured
him with a conference in 2005 and a Festschrift in 2007, and
was twice on the Council of the Furniture History Society,
which also published a Festschrift in 2007.
Bellaigue wore his honours (including a knighthood) and
accolades so lightly, but his influence will continue to be
revered among those who share his passion for eighteenthcentury France (not least his own daughters, one of whom
is an historian and the other a museum conservator). In the
history of art’s Hall of Fame his bust will preside over an
unusual pedestal: one dedicated to the decorative arts.
Rosalind Savill
With Kate Davson and Ros Savill at the launch of FPS Journal I, 2003
This obituary was first published in The Burlington Magazine, June 2013
reviews
Lusso ed eleganza, La porcelana francese a Palazzo Pitti e la manifattura Ginori (1800-1830)
Assembled with the support of a ‘Comitato scientifico’
which includes several distinguished members of our Society,
this ground-breaking exhibition took place at Palazzo Pitti,
Florence, from 19 March to 23 June 2013. Its splendid
catalogue, with notices written by over twenty authorities
in the field of French and Italian porcelain and sculpture,
includes 104 wide-ranging entries on objects drawn not only
from the collections at the Pitti, but from all over Europe.
The theme of the exhibition is the influence of French
porcelain, and in particular of Sèvres and the Dagoty and
Dihl et Guérhard factories in Paris, on the Doccia factory,
in the context of contemporary politics. Until recently,
the history of the Doccia factory has been little explored,
especially during the first decades of the 19th century, which
were marked by great change in Italy.
This extremely thorough and illuminating catalogue
commences with an essay by Kirsten Aschengreen Piacenti,
formerly director of the Museo degli Argenti at the Pitti
Palace, on the history of the Pitti during the Napoleonic
era. Tamara Préaud discusses Napoleon’s diplomatic
gifts of Sèvres to the new Kingdom of Etruria. Andreina
d’Agliano puts into context a Sèvres service for Elisa
Baciocchi, Napoleon’s sister who became Princess of
Lucca and Piombino, and later Granduchess of Tuscany by
marriage. Anne Lajoix writes about Abraham Constantin,
a contemporary of Marie-Victoire Jacquotot who visited
Florence between 1820-25, and his superb pictures on
porcelain, several of which form an entire section of the
show. One, a self-portrait, is part of the Uffizi collections of
painting. Carlo Leopoldo Ginori Lisci, who was in charge of
the Doccia factory in the early 19th century, is the subject of
a study by Oliva Rucellai. His artistic ‘Grand Tour’ included
Vienna, Meissen, Fulda, Tournai and Limoges, equipping
him to take the factory forward. Technical and organisational
developments are surveyed by Alessandro Biancalana, who
illustrates several kiln designs, and both Andreina d’Agliano
and Rita Balleri contribute essays on forms and decoration at
Doccia, and its debt to French porcelain.
Each of these essays is a rich mine of information, as are
the individual catalogue entries. The show was divided into
six sections. Several are chronological: the kingdom of
Etruria, Elisa Baciocchi in Lucca, Elisa as Granduchess of
Tuscany, and Ferdinand II and gifts of Sèvres, whilst one is
thematic, charting the French influence on Carlo Leopoldo
Ginori Lisci. The final section is devoted to the work of
Constantin. Oil portraits, a silver-gilt coffee pot by Biennais
and gilt-bronze, marble and terracotta portrait sculpture as
well as porcelain made this exhibition a diverse assemblage
of objects which in general are little-known, with much to
surprise and delight. An extensive bibliography is a useful
tool, and the index facilitates navigation of the catalogue.
Excellent illustrations throughout complete this exploration
of the culture of France and Italy as it melded in the early
part of the 19th century.
Aileen Dawson
reviews
Daily Pleasures: French Ceramics from the MaryLou Boone Collection
This review was first published with a German translation in Keramos, Heft 219, 2013
In a crowded market place a catalogue must justify itself on
numerous fronts. This one does. Firstly the collection itself is
unusual in the rich tradition of American collecting of French
ceramics in that it includes faïence as well as porcelain. Little
has been published on French faïence outside of France
since Arthur Lane’s Faber monograph of 1948 so this alone
makes it an important addition to the literature. Secondly
the range; with 132 catalogue entries most of the key areas
of 18th-century French ceramics are involved. Thirdly the
quality; here we have some truly stellar highlights such as the
early Vincennes sugar box and cup and saucer (nos. 117 &
118) both decorated with unique moulded decoration and
famous lovers of antiquity, the splendid large Chantilly dish
(no. 81) and the noble Moustier charger from the Clérissey
factory, all amongst the very finest examples of their kind
anywhere. But also included are less grand but instructive
pieces such as a humble faience biberon or invalid’s drinking
vessel from Nevers which rarely survive and whose origin
has recently been reattributed.
This is a multifaceted catalogue edited by Elizabeth Williams
with introductory essays by Meredith Chilton, Antoinette
Faÿ-Hallé and an introduction to the collector by Victoria
Kastner with further catalogue entries by Catherine Hess.
It records the collection of MaryLou Boone in its entirety
before its division between the two institutions with which
she has had such a long involvement, the Los Angeles
County Museum of Art and the Huntington Art Collections.
The difficult task of appealing to and perhaps inspiring the
general educated reader as well as satisfying the demands of
the specialist has been achieved by elegance of presentation
combined with very latest scholarly opinion leading to some
interesting and surprising re-attributions.
The first discourse, an essay by Meredith Chilton titled, ‘The
Pleasures of Life, Ceramics in seventeenth- and eighteenthcentury France’, is a deeply informed and richly illustrated
exploration of the changing habits and usages of the period
from the late Renaissance to the Revolution seen largely
through the eyes of a society where, “The wealthy enjoyed
a refined quality of life never before experienced”. In her
previous major works on the Italian Comedy and Du Paquier
porcelain Chilton has championed the interpretation of
ceramics in their historical and social context, and here again
we get an illuminating tour through many aspects of table
culture, the kitchen garden, the pharmacy and sickroom,
the toilette, coffee, tea, snuff-taking and smoking and how
the ceramics industries responded to and profited from
them. Chilton delights in unearthing little-known paintings
and engravings as well as quotations and anecdotes that
illuminate the subject.
Antoinette Faÿ-Hallé gives a masterly historical survey
of faïence in France incorporating the latest discoveries.
The two distinct routes whereby the technical skills were
introduced from Italy in the mid-16th century, from Venice
via Antwerp to Rouen and the slightly later but more direct
route from Italy to Lyon and Never are traced. Faÿ-Hallé
explains how in France faïence was admired for its own sake
and did not need to apologise for not being porcelain, as
was sometimes the case in Holland in the late 17th and early
18th centuries. She explains how the Italian figurative istoriato
style gave way to floral motifs and attributes this change
to the influence of Iznik ceramics. The imposition of the
Sumptuary laws compelling the surrender of silver plate
to be melted coincided with the expiration of the Rouen
monopoly in 1698 allowing the numerous new factories to
satisfy the burgeoning demand for table services for the
nobility and leading families.
Faÿ-Hallé gives a lucid exposition of the development of grand
feu colours and how petit feu enamels were introduced from two
routes indirectly from Meissen; via the Löwenfinck brothers in
Strasbourg and the less well-known path by the faïencier Gaspard
Robert who served his apprenticeship in Germany before
returning to Marseilles in 1749. We are shown how the faïenciers
tried, ultimately in vain, to compete with porcelain whose
monopolies were protected by royal privileges and then with
English creamwares which were allowed in after the Treaty of
Vergennes of 1786 created a Free Trade Zone, a fatal blow to
the faïence industry. It was a glorious swansong in which the
finest faïence painting rose to the level of that on porcelain.
The faïence and porcelain sections of the catalogue are
both preceded by potted histories of the major factories
and centres of production. These provide a clear framework
which will orientate the non-specialist but the specialist will
not be disappointed either; we are introduced to some of the
most recent views and reattributions reflecting Antoinette
Faÿ-Hallé’s central role in the scholarship of faïence in
recent decades. Although a complete review of such a large
subject as French faïence is beyond the scope of one book,
Antoinette Faÿ-Hallé does not spare us the complexities
of the arguments and we are privileged to ‘eavesdrop’ on
the current discussion between French scholars with whom
she has engaged in her distinguished career. For instance at
Moustier, the only factory where painters were encouraged
to mark their work, we are shown the differences between
the artists Joseph Salomé and Jean-François Pelloquin (nos.
29 and 30) and we are introduced to the subject of the
attribution between the faïence of Moustier and Marseilles
(no. 34) or recent reattributions such as that of no. 55 from
Moustiers to Varrages. Later faïence is touched on, notably a
handsome charger designed by Charles Ficquenet (no. 58) as
well as some interesting copies.
In similar fashion the specialist will find some surprises in
the reattributions of porcelain; nos. 110 and 111 which have
long been held to be fine examples of Saint Cloud porcelain
are here, thanks to Bernard Dragesco, now given to the rather
overlooked Sceaux porcelain factory of Jaques Chapelle. This
perhaps should not be seen as a demotion of the objects
from Saint Cloud but rather an overdue elevation of the
factory of Sceaux to its place amongst the other significant
factories. Beyond the scholarship it is the beauty of the
objects selected that make this such an admirable collection
and catalogue, such pieces as the Mennecy workers (107),
the Chantilly dish (81), or the coloured Saint Cloud box in
the form of a knotted handkerchief (76), for instance, are
amongst the rarest and most beautiful of their kind. We are
treated to a vivid interpretation of the amorous subjects on
the Vincennes sugar box and cup and saucer (nos. 117 & 118)
and a tantalising suggestion that such extraordinary work
might suggest a provenance of Madame de Pompadour. The
salacious story depicted on the teapot (no. 119) is identified
to intrigue us with the notion that such elegance could coexist
with this sauciness, revealing the fruitier undercurrents never
far from the surface of polite Parisian high society.
This beautifully produced volume leaves us with a sense of
the joy that has informed the collecting of these pieces over
many years and the depth of interpretation by the authors.
It is gratifying to see that rigorous scholarship can coexist so
harmoniously with the delight in the aesthetic and sensual
qualities of these truly beautiful relics of a remarkable age.
Errol Manners
New acquisition
Important Gifts of French Porcelain Come to the Legion of Honor, San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are pleased to
acknowledge a generous gift of French 18th-century porcelain
from local collector Ronald F. Schwarz in memory of Michael
Barcun, including eleven exquisite Sèvres porcelain cups and
saucers.
One particularly fine and rare early Vincennes piece—an
exquisite covered sugar bowl with a blue-celeste ground,
delicate tooled gilding, and floral decorations—was given to
the Museums in 2011 by Barcun and Schwarz in honor of
the European Decorative Arts Council.
Cup and saucer (gobelet litron et soucoupe) with orange ground, 1786.
French, Sèvres; decorated by Charles-Nicolas Buteux fils. Soft-paste
porcelain. 2012.23.1a-b
Covered sugar bowl (pot à sucre hébert) with blue-celeste ground, ca. 1755.
French, Vincennes. Soft-paste porcelain. 2011.26.2a-b
The Schwarz-Barcun collection of Sèvres was carefully
formed over several decades to showcase the diversity of
ground colors and decorative styles adopted by the factory
during a particularly prolific and experimental period of
production, from 1768 to 1788. The rare orange ground
color on one cup and saucer decorated by Charles-Nicolas
Buteux fils exemplifies the distinctive nature of these works.
These important gifts are on permanent display in the
Bowles Porcelain Gallery at the Legion of Honor, Lincoln
Park, 100 34th Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94402.
Maria Santangelo
FPS Visit to Holland
Patricia Ferguson and Julia Weber describe some highlights from the trip, April 2013
On arrival in Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the
Netherlands, famous for its innovative modern architecture,
we gathered for dinner at Zinc in the Oude Haven. Thursday
began in The Hague, at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
designed by H. P. Berlage in 1931-5 with built-in cases
illuminated by natural light. We were greeted by Jet PijzelDommisse, curator of applied arts, and a specialist in 17thcentury Dutch dollhouses.
First we looked at Hague porcelain, circa 1776-90,
imported as blanks from Ansbach and other German
factories and painted in the Hague, beautifully displayed
with contemporary Dutch silver. This was followed by
recently acquisitions of Venetian filigree glass, circa 1600.
We then viewed the stunning new installation of Delftware
by Suzanne Lambooys, ‘Het Wonder van Delfts Blauw
Delftware Wonderware’. Cleverly displayed in period rooms
with mirrored cases, various themes were explored: EastWest comparisons, marks, animals, shapes and contemporary
responses - each with a touch of humour. Finally, in the
reserve collection, we had an introduction to Art Nouveau
Rozenberg eggshell porcelain with specialist Prof. Dr. Titus
Eliens. A table was set out with some challenging Meissen
examples and other puzzles, stimulating a lively discussion.
Kasteel Duivenvoorde
In the afternoon we visited the moated Kasteel Duivenvoorde,
owned in the 17th century by the van Wassenaer family.
It remained in private hands until 1960, when it became a
foundation and was restored to its 1717 Marotesque appearance.
Among the treasures was a waxed Yixing garniture, masses of
Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, and Pamela Roditi spotted
the rare ‘bronzed’ terracotta groups by Pieter Xavery, circa 1670.
There were several wonderful mid-18th century cupboards
designed to display their abundant porcelain services. Tea was
served in the private apartments of Mr and Mrs van Haersma
Buma-Schimmelpenninck van der Oye.
We returned to Rotterdam to another light-filled gallery, the
Boijmans van Beunigen Museum, also built in 1935. Here
we explored the study collection, contemporary design, and
paintings displays. The exhibition ‘Handmade’, showcased
craft 1250 to 2000, not displayed chronologically but by
theme, dispelling various clichés. As the sun was beginning
to set, Jan Daniel van Dam greeted us at the home of the
collector Dr. C. Castendijks, whose antique-filled apartment
overlooked the Rotterdam skyline, with cases of Dutch and
German, mid-18th century porcelain. Georgie McPherson
and myself were privileged to receive partial funding for the
trip from a munificent anonymous FPS member.
Patricia Ferguson
FPS Members outside Huis Doorn
On the second day of our trip, the bus started again very
punctually at eight o’clock in the morning towards our first
destination, the Huis Doorn. In 1919, the elegant country
house in the Utrecht hills was bought by Wilhelm II, the
last German emperor. After the defeat in World War I he
had fled to the neutral Netherlands where he stayed until
his death in 1941. His mummified corpse is buried in the
mausoleum in the garden of Huis Doorn. We were welcomed
by a short glimpse of sunlight which we used for a group
picture in front of the house. Cornelis van de Bas, curator
of the house, gave us a general introduction to the history of
the site and its collection, which, although unfortunately not
not publicly accessible at the moment due to dramatic public
funding cuts, is still completely intact.
We were guided through the house in two groups. The
interiors are an amazing mixture of 18th- and 19th-century
furniture. When moving to Huis Doorn, Wilhelm II brought
fifty-nine wagons full of his favorite belongings with him
coming from his Berlin and Potsdam palaces as Bellevue,
Charlottenburg and Monbijou. About ninety per cent of
the porcelain included comes from the Royal Porcelain
Manufactory Berlin, including a multipartite table service
with the relief pattern “Neuosier” painted in red and gold
with flowers, an eagle and a crown within rocailles. Wilhelm II
had it made for use in all his palaces shortly after his accession
to the throne in 1888. However, the imported furniture and
fixtures comprised also a lot of older artifacts dating from the
17th century onwards. Hugely impressive was a big chandelier
also made at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin in 1771.
It is mounted in gilded bronze and topped by a dazzling
pineapple. Between the brunches sit three figures of fame
designed by the Meissen-trained modeler Friedrich Elias
Meyer. The chandelier was earmarked for the New Palace
at Sanssouci where two others of the same size remained.
Frederick the Great highly appreciated these products of his
royal manufactory which he presented to several European
courts. We saw another one the next day at the Palace Het Loo.
The second largest group of porcelain in Huis Doorn was
the Meissen colletion which probably come from lootings
of Frederick the Great when occupying Saxony in 1745
and during the Seven Years’ War. On the latter occasion,
the Prussian king also ordered porcelain designed-to-order
by the chief modeller Johann Joachim Kändler. Amongst
these were the sets of vases we saw in Huis Doorn with
attached flowers and putti, painted with bunches of flowers.
Corresponding pieces are still to be found in the New Palace
in Sanssouci.
Claes Conijn greeting us at Middachten
For his acquisitions made during personal visits to
Paris, Frederik Laan mainly relied on his own taste and
connoisseurship. A spontaneous session of The Antiques
Roadshow with FPS-members as both experts and audience,
while local staff keenly took notes, proved that he was not
always right. Several ceramics were displayed especially
for us on a long table for close analysis, including a Sèvres
mustard pot with green ribbons. Some other Sèvres pieces
proved to be hard-paste copies by the Samson workshop.
This was particularly obvious with a hard-paste plate copying
faithfully an unfinished Sèvres prototype that bore only half
of the monogram painted on this specific service, that is to
say only an ‘L’ instead of an interlaced ‘C’ and ‘L’. The largely
voluntary staff requested and receieved FPS members’
verdict on the collections. A very nice Meissen snuffbox
painted with green Watteau scenes and with a colored
Watteau scene on the inside of the lid, dating from around
1750, as well as a Luneville faïence water cooler with purple
chinoiseries, gained much interest.
Hugo Ter Avest greeting us at The Hannemahuis in Harlingen
The drawing room displayed portraits of friends and relatives
of Frederick the Great painted by Liotard, Pesne and others
together with a selection of his beloved snuffboxes which
often also bear miniature portraits. In the same room we saw
a few pieces from the porcelain service he had ordered in
China through the Royal Prussian-Asian Company. The ship
with the tablewares sank in 1752 north of Borkum. A few
of the pieces were saved and came back into the possession
of the Hohenzoller after 1820. John also drew our attention
to the highly important chest of drawers and other furniture
by the court cabinet-makers Johann Friedrich and Heinrich
Wilhelm Spindler adorned with gilt- or silvered-bronze
mounts from the Workshop of Melchior Kambly.
Enjoying herrings
After a short tea break we continued our journey to Singraven
near Denekamp where a Dutch lunch waited for us in a
wonderful historic water mill. Invigorated, we were ready for
the visit of the manor house. Since 1956, it has been kept by
a private foundation ,Edwina van Heek, that cares for cultural
and natural monuments in the Eastern Netherlands. The last
private owner and resident of the estate, Mr. Willem Frederik
Laan, sold it to the foundation ten years before his death in
1966. He previously undertook major transformations of the
building to which he added a neoclassical front. The furniture
and fixings pay tribute to 18th-century taste.
On our guided tour through the house we discovered quite
a few very interesting ceramics. For example, some very
large Chinese Imari vases with replacement lids made in
Delft, a set of Fürstenberg vases painted with scenes after
Wouverman, and a well-preserved complete déjeuner from
the German porcelain manufactory Kloster Veilsdorf
painted with flowers and ribbons. Several pieces of furniture
attracted our attention, including pieces made in the Boulle
technique, though not directly originating from the famous
Boulle workshop, as well as a Beauvais tapestry depicting an
audience with the Emperor of China.
FPS Visit to Holland
Loaded with many wonderful impressions we drove directly
to our next destination Twickel Castle situated northeast
from Enschede. The largest private estate in the Netherlands
has been in the possession of successive members of the
same family from 1347 to 1953, because it could be inherited
through the female line. The last owner, Baroness Van
Heeckeren van Wassenaer, created the Twickel Foundation
which now takes care of the house and gardens. Only the
latter are open to the public during the summer season. The
house is still lived in by the nephews of the last Lord of
Twickel. We were very happy to be allowed a guided tour
through this impressive castle. The oldest part of it is the
front dating from 1551, as recorded on the stonework. The
building was continuously extended till the 19th century.
A great hall with a feature fireplace was a very welcome setting
for another short tea break. There the estate manager Rob
Bloemendal gave us a short introduction to the history of
the house and its collections comprising around 1,800 pieces
of porcelain. Most famous are the many Japanese porcelains
in the Kakiemon style so much sought after in the late 17th
and early 18th century. In this period the owners of Twickel
held important posts in the Dutch East India Company, and
often married daughters of Amsterdam dealers. A distinctive
feature of the Twickel collection is the extant family archive
which also comprises notes about porcelain purchases. The
documents prove that the Kakiemon wares were bought
during the 17th century. The documentary collection was
intensively studied by Menno Fitski, keeper of East Asian
Art at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, who published a
handbook on Kakiemon porcelain in 2011.
Furthermore, we could admire a few Sèvres pieces: teawares
with blue and green grounds painted with flowers and
children and dating around 1758, as well as a beautiful cooler
with a blue ground from 1756. The tour ended in the historic
and modern kitchens in the basement where useful wares
Examining Delft at Het Loo with Suzanne Lambooy
from China, Japan and Meissen decorated in underglaze blue
were displayed. In the 19th century, the family dined from
the famous Meissen onion pattern.
Last but not least we were very kindly invited by Mr. and Mrs.
Hans and Jacobien Ressing-Wolfert to their nearby home,
where drinks and snacks quickly revived us. We were then
shown their exquisite collection including Dutch Delftware
and faïence from Höchst, Strasbourg and Marseille. Special
attention is paid by the collectors to early Arnhem faience.
Mrs. Jacobien Ressing-Wolfert published several articles on
their relationship to French faience of the time.
This intense and very inspiring day ended splendidly
with a diner at the Hotel Landgoed Avegoor which was
accompanied by a classical music performance from the
Huygens Duo who specialize in chamber music from the
17th century. It was a great delight to listen to the vocalist
Leonore van Sloten and the lutist Arjen Verhage performing
songs by Dolwand, Purcell and other composers.
Julia Weber
From the archives...
British Museum - Autumn 2012
Aileen Dawson kindly selected some choice pieces from
the British Museum collection for us to handle. We began
with a Vincennes cup and saucer (possibly 1749) decorated
en camaïeu pourpre with a handle formed as a lizard. This
was followed by a Vincennes cup and saucer (gobelet à la
reine). Of special interest was its curious cloudy bleu lapis
ground streaked with gold in imitation of lapis lazuli and the
gilded iridescence of the birds’ plumage – the mark is also
unusual. Aileen then produced a glazed white biscuit watch
stand which might be Vincennes of c.1750, or Mennecy or
Tournai. Errol suggested that a large piece (at 26.6 cm high)
of such complexity was unlikely to have been produced by
a small factory. The fine jewelling on a soft paste cup and
saucer (tasse litron) painted with gilded antique figures on
the dark blue ground was clearly marked EE for 1782 with
the gilder’s mark for Charles Nicolas Buteux. Aileen then
showed a milk jug marked with interlaced L’s below a gold
mark for Vincent, but this is now thought to be an 18th
-century original redecorated with 19th-century jewelling
and then re-marked. We saw pieces from Chelsea and other
factories represented in the British Museum’s collection.
Some of us retired with Aileen for lunch and more porcelain
chat. The visit to the Senate House to view their large 19th
-century Sèvres vase was only undertaken by those few who
could face a sudden mini-hurricane in Gower Street. But it is
a fine thing – on a fine day.
Jennifer Stern and Rosa Somerville
Victoria & Albert Museum
A handling session in Spring 2013
The FPS group examining French porcelain in the V&A’s Ceramics study room
At the V&A on 27th February, Adrian Sassoon generously led
a handling session. To his selection Catrin Jones had added
some very special pieces, which covered early Vincennes
models and types of decoration.
A teapot of Meissen shape with brown decoration to the
rims and a sugar bowl and cover with a very rare green
monochrome en camaïeu decoration of buildings in a
landscape were presented before a ewer and basin designed
by Duplessis c.1752, with Meissen-inspired decoration
which included a glorious dragonfly, but whose shape was
more French than Saxon or Chinese. Of special interest to
members was a pair of yellow ground cuvettes Courteille
from the Jones collection with decoration en camaïeu bleu
after Boucher.
A pair of vases hollondois (also from the Jones Collection)
were chosen for their elaborate and delicate gilding around
the inside rim and for the reserves, which showed scenes after
Teniers by Veillard and bouquets of flowers by Tandart. A
pair of bulb pots à l’oignon with a rose ground gave Adrian
the opportunity to point out that the gilding was outlined
with carmine red. As we saw with a vase hollandois nouveau
ovale, when there is no carmine red separating the gilding
from the rose ground yellowing occurs. Ros was interested
to see the pierced tops, which would allow four small stakes
to be inserted to prop up any floppy flower heads.
To cheer us all up – as if we needed it – Adrian presented a
déjeuner carré with a highly unusual ground of bright “jelly
beans” of 1766, decorated by Vieillard with reserves of still
lifes. Another rarity was the hard paste cup and saucer with
a maroon ground commemorating the birth of the Dauphin
in October 1781.
Adrian used an enamelled cup and saucer with a bleu nouveau
ground to explain the process of jewelling and reminded us
that these were made for collectors to display rather than use.
Then followed the challenge, which seems part of such
privileged access. A glazed tureen and cover, exceptionally
modelled, with crisp freehand cutting. Could it be by
Duplessis père or fils? There were blue L’s for 1775/6.
Catrin then finished the session with two Sèvres plaques.
The one showing the new granddaughter of the marquis de
Courteille was included in the Dodin exhibition at Versailles
in 2012, where it is fully described as catalogue 70. John
Whitehead remarked on the usefulness of this intimate
bedroom scene for interiors of the period with its delightful
striped materials and many details. A special treat was to see
the back, which is inscribed with a handwritten description
of the dramatis personae in this notable celebratory plaque.
All of those who attended this session would like to thank
Adrian and Catrin for giving their time and knowledge.
Jennifer Stern and Rosa Somerville
New publication
Paris 1650-1900, Decorative arts in the Rijksmuseum, by Reinier Baarsen
From 1650 to 1900 Paris was the undisputed centre of
fashion and taste in Europe. Home to a unique concentration
of artists, designers, patrons, critics and a keen buying
public, Paris was the city where trends were made and where
novel types of objects, devised for new ways of life, were
invented. This book traces the wonderful story of Parisian
decorative arts from the reign of Louis XIV to the triumph
of art nouveau, through a selection of 150 breathtaking, and
often little-known, masterpieces from the collection of the
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
It features an exhilarating mixture of furniture, gilt bronze,
tapestries, silver, watches, snuff-boxes, jewellery, Sèvres
porcelain and other ceramics, as well as some design drawings
and engravings. Specially taken photographs reveal the daring
design and beautiful execution of the work of some of the
greatest artists and craftsmen of their time. Rijksmuseum
curator Reinier Baarsen discusses the history and significance
of each object, presenting the findings of much new research.
Yale University Press. 704 pages, 800 colour ills., HB 978-0300-19129-5, £175 or €220.
Obituary
György Károly Emőd (1955-2013)
Actor, stage director and art collector György Károly Emőd
has died aged 58. Mr Emőd was born on 23 April 1955
in Budapest. He studied acting from 1974 to 1978 at the
Hungarian Academy of Dramatic Art and later completed a
graduate program for stage directors.
In addition to pursuing a successful career as an actor and
director for several years, he worked as a gifted translator
of classical literary works and a brilliant writer of song
lyrics. Mr Emőd’s Hungarian translation of Shakespeare’s
Midsummer Night’s Dream, which he also adapted for the
stage, was widely hailed by theatre critics as a highly original
Shakespeare translation.
Mr Emőd was born into a family closely linked to the world
of art, as his father was an avid collector of applied art
objects. Enchanted by the beauty of art, he soon became
a serious collector in his own right. His passion for art, his
unprecedented dedication to scholarly work and his unique
knowledge and expertise quickly earned him respect and
recognition worldwide as an expert in Renaissance and
Baroque goldsmiths’ craft and early European porcelain.
His extensive silver collection contains invaluable Hungarian
goldsmiths’ works, which was particularly important to
him. His ceramic and porcelain collection gradually grew to
include remarkable Meissen, Viennese and Italian objects
and figures, Italian Renaissance majolica, and masterpieces
of Chinese and Japanese ceramic art.
As a scholar and collector, his main purpose in life was to
establish a unique collection of applied arts in Hungary.
He bequeathed his huge art literature library, ceramic and
gold and silver artefacts to the Hungarian National Museum
and the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts. He passed
away in his Budapest home on 10 July 2013, and will be
remembered for his lively asides during FPS lectures.
Please send contributions, reviews, and details of new acquisitions and forthcoming exhibitions to [email protected]